FAQ

It is more important for your child to be flexible in accepting differences in skin color, language and culture, to have the ability to accept teachers with a variety of nationalities, along with a keen interest in whatever is new. As your child grows accustomed to English, recognizing its sounds, and acquiring the ability to respond to simple questions, he or she will learn to fit in naturally. GKA Pre-School also gives children a good foundation for an English Immersion Education by asking them questions with meaningful content and having them respond in English.

It depends on what we view academic ability as. It may be less effective to study in English if our main purpose is to achieve the highest possible scores on traditional Japanese examinations. However, if our goal is to challenge students and nurture their understanding through conceptual based education and through examining the processes taken while working toward a specific goals, an education in English can be most effective. According to research, bilingual children have higher metacognitive skills than monolingual children. Moreover, we believe that an English immersion education further deepens a student’s comprehension level while providing important skills needed to cope with complexed issues found in adult society.

The ability to speak English is merely a means to an end and the important thing is what the students say and what they want to convey. Students experience Japanese culture first-hand through extracurricular lessons that deepen their understanding of Japanese traditions. They also learn how teachers from other countries look at Japan from a wide variety of perspectives.
Students naturally develop an awareness being Japanese within an international community.

We do not focus on language accent. We use the books to teach reading comprehension, vocabulary, and grammar. Teachers choose stories that our students can relate to. There are slight differences about spelling and phrases, however, we don’t see such a big problem. We rather want that students can learn from both.

The children study their subjects within the special school system. There is no reduction of the hours. They are studying the same content as other schools but we teach in English rather than Japanese.

There is Extra Help in our school for the students who find it difficult keeping up with the lessons in either Japanese or English. It is after school support in smaller groups. The parents can consult with the homeroom teachers and discuss the schedule.

It all depends on the contents of the subject and the children’s interest. Sometimes the parents think the children will understand better if they are taught in Japanese but the immersion education uses learning methods that force to children to study in a challenging but fun way. There is no single answer for all the children to acqire their learning. We discuss with the parents about the support that they need. It could be supplementary studies in Japanese.

It is very important to reduce the emotional stress for the children. We consider that the casual conversation in their mother language is also necessary for childrens’ healthy growth.

English is not necessary for parents since Japanese teachers interpret for English speaking teachers.

Please give your children support by helping them come to school safely and happily everyday. Help children to build up their daily home study habits by checking their reading and signing off. Parents do not need to give any instruction over the contents of the lessons. Please give support to the children for their time management, mental and emotional support.

The elementary school provides two after-school care programs: one for Grades 1 to 3 and another for Grades 1 to 6. Staff members are specifically assigned to watch over children as they play and do their homework.

There is a school counselor but we do not have special support staff for the students.

Both the elementary school and the secondary school provide a school bus service.

There are several points that children can catch the bus. For the GKA school bus there is Ota station and Bus terminal Ota. For the Maebashi bus there is Komagata station and Maebashi station. For the Kumagaya bus there are stop at Kumagaya Station, the Dai (North) Intersection area and the Gyosei Menuma Centre area.

Secondary school students can also use the public bus service or commute by bicycle if they are within cycling distance.

Therer is a school bus that we call Maebashi bus. It departs Maebashi Station 6:45 and 7:10 from Komagata station in the morning. After classes, it leaves GKA at 15:40 to arrive Komagata station around 16:30. (This depends on the traffic)

 There is a school bus departs from Bairindo Hakoda Store 6:35, 6:55 Kumagaya Station, 7:15 TOYSRUS and 7:25 Gyosei Menuma Center. After classes, it leaves GKA at 15:40 to arrive at Kumagaya Station around 16:25 (This depends on the traffic). For Kumagaya bound,  a six months bus pass costs 85,800 yen.

There are other bus services which are public buses, one is “Shuttle 500” and the other is “Asahi Bus”. Both buses stop at Ota station and Ota Bus Terminal. So the students can transfer to the GKA school bus.

The school will release this information after entrance exam. There is parent-organized private bus from Ashikaga.

We recommend a maximum of an hour commuting time in order to avoid children’s physical and safety (burden) concerns.

There is no waiting area available around the school. You can rent a car park nearby.

The school opens at 7:45.
Both Gakudo and Little Clover accept students until 18:30 and they look after students until 19:00 on parent’s request.

Two semesters. From April until September is the first semester and October until March is the second semester.

There are no satuday lessons generally, however there are some school events or orientations on some Saturdays. In that case, children need to attend the school.

More than 90% of students are Japanese.

We do change the class every year.

We do not have any seasonal sports and we do not have swimming lessons.

From Grade 11, students select either the IB Course or the Domestic University Preparation Course. The IB Course is not only for students planning to go to university abroad. Students intending to enter domestic universities can also take the IB Course, and many of them enter Japanese universities. In the final stage of their studies at GKA, students make a choice based not so much on where they plan to attend university, but on how they want to learn, and on what kind of future they envision for themselves.

Yes you can, if there is a place in the (relevant) requested grade.

For this year, we requested the family mainly who lives in Ota City to consider changing the class from Saturday class to weekdays class.

We never refuse to join to the preschool, but we may request to families consider changing the class for the next year, too.

Pre-school summer vacation follows the elementary school calendar.

We will decide offering the 4-year old class according to COVID-19 situation.